#1 Penn State Downs the #3 Iowa Hawkeyes in front of Record Crowd

STATE COLLEGE – In front of a record crowd of nearly 16,000 fans the #1 Penn State Nittany Lions outpaced the #3 Iowa Hawkeyes (28-13) inside a sold out Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday night. Pennsylvania wrestling was well represented between the two squads with a total of five Pennsylvania natives taking the mat and four having their hands raised. Read Jeff Upson’s quick notes on the dual…

Spencer Lee’s Homecoming

Iowa True Freshman Spencer Lee made his Pennsylvania return on Saturday and the Franklin Regional graduate made the most of it. Somewhat surprising to me was the relatively neutral reception Spencer got when his name was announced and as he made his way to the mat. Considering how negative many Penn State fans have, and continue to be, towards Spencer for his decision to attend Iowa over Penn State – it was refreshing to not hear the crowd react negatively. It only took The Kid (2:06) to pick up a takedown and fall to put Iowa up (6-0) early on.

Zain Still Far Ahead of Sorensen

In a rematch of the 2016 NCAA Finals #1 Zain Retherford (Benton, PA) showed the gap between he and #2 Brandon Sorensen is still wide. Despite it being closer than the 2016 NCAA Finals, where Retherford won by major decision (10-1), The Zain Train controlled all of the action in a (6-2) win over Sorensen. The two were fighting hands hard with both taking a share of shots to the face. Retherford was never in any serious danger amassing (3:07) in riding time but unable to turn the Iowa senior. Nonetheless Zain is still the undisputed #1 and the likely repeat Hodge Trophy winner.

Cenzo Will Get It Back

When #1 Vincenzo Joseph took on Iowa’s #4 Alex Marinelli at 165 lbs. on Saturday night fans saw a rare moment where the 2017 NCAA Champ did not come out on top of his famed inside trip. Well, Penn State fans – don’t panic. Cenzo out wrestled Marinelli for (5:50). I think the ref missed swipes on his blast double in the second that took Marinelli to his back. Joseph didn’t need the inside trip in the third up (5-3) but he was no doubt thinking of bonus points and in the process made a gamble which he lost – this time. As Marc Billett said on the drive home, Joseph may have went to the well one too many times against Marinelli. I don’t, however, think Joseph will lose to Alex Marinelli again this season.